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About the Original Game

Nexus: The Jupiter Incident

“Best Tactical Space Game Ever. Fresh idea and amazing graphics. Battles on an Epic scale. The only game that is worthy of the backdrop of space!” - Metacritic 77% average critic score, 90% average user score

“This gem of a space tactics offering is everything that fans of the genre have been waiting for” - Gamespot, 83%

“Nexus pleases like a deep space production on the scale of a Roddenberry saga”
- PC Gamer, 83%

Despite being published nearly 8 years ago, Nexus: The Jupiter Incident still remains a landmark in space-based RTS games.

Nexus: The Jupiter Incident Trailer:

It was a game for Admirals, not Project Managers; there were no factories to build, construction queues to manage, or resources to gather. The player’s sole responsibility was to lead a fleet of giant spaceships into pitched battle, where the only route to success was tactical brilliance, quick thinking, and bold strategy.

Visually, it was a glorious game, and even today it is fondly remembered for its sprawling cosmic panoramas, against which mighty dreadnoughts of unthinkable size and power lumbered into battle, filling the void with scintillating blasts of energy weapons and the smoky trails of missiles, whilst the ship crews struggled frantically to maintain their shields, repair damaged systems, and keep their vessels in the fight.

Since its launch, no other space game has been able to match it for the crispness of its gameplay, the magnificence of its spectacle, or the depth of its tactics…

Until now.

Welcome… to Nexus 2!

The creators of the original game now have a unique proposal for you… to participate in the development, by pledging funds that will allow us to begin production of the next instalment in the Nexus story.

Our vision is clear: we have a full design for a truly worthy successor to the original game, one which will take forward the story of mankind’s expeditions to the hostile reaches of interstellar space, and bring it up to date with state-of-the-art visuals and even richer gameplay.

The Plot

It is 25 years since peace was brought to the solar system, thanks to the inspired leadership of Marcus Cromwell, Commander of the Allied Fleet. It was he who defeated the forces of the soulless mechanoid called the Entity and, with the help of the mysterious artificial goddess known as Angel, threw off the shackles of slavery from mankind.

Peace and stability have returned to human space. The devastation of the Entity War shut the Star Gate that led mankind into contact with the fearsome Gorg and other former foes.

Something strange has happened in the meantime, however. Following the Entity’s defeat, a change has befallen humanity. Throughout human space, children with strange powers are being born, who can affect the fabric of time and space through the power of thought alone.

Known as Psis, these supernaturally-gifted individuals are feared and hated by some, but keenly sought by those who wish to harness their abilities as powerful weapons; a single Psi’s involvement in a fleet battle can mean the difference between glorious victory and crushing defeat.

When the impact of the Psis becomes clear, squabbles arise amongst the Solar System corporations, as they seek to dominate and control these powerful individuals for their own good. Old friends and alliances are forgotten in the lust for power and control.

Amidst these tensions, something stunning occurs. Mechanoid ships, long since thought defeated, start appearing in human space, and unleashing surprise attacks on any ship which has a Psi crewmember aboard. Many Psis are killed, and panic reigns.

The aged hero Marcus Cromwell watches these happenings with dismay, fearing a return to the dark days of the past. Then, just as his despair is deepest, he is contacted once again by the mysterious Angel, who once again calls upon his assistance to counter foes more numerous and powerful than even he could imagine…

The Game

The gameplay of Nexus is everything the discerning Space Admiral could desire. Alongside improvements and polish across the board to existing graphics and gameplay, there is also a wealth of new features to expand and enrich the gameplay to ever-greater heights.

Psis: a new angle to gameplay

The Psis are a new class of NPC, who can be added to the crew of certain ships. Each Psi has a unique power, allowing them to influence the course of battle, and turn a lost cause into a triumphant victory.

Examples here are the Micro Jump, allowing instantaneous short-range teleportation, or the Psychic Clone, whereby the Psi creates an illusory decoy ship to draw fire away from the real one.

State of the art graphics

Nexus 2 will be made with the Unreal Engine, the industry gold standard for top-quality game visuals, which has been used in countless AAA games, and which is simply the best, most professional tool available to us.

Using their lavishly-developed tools, we will be able to raise the bar on Nexus 2’s visual appearance to a level we could only dream of when developing the original.

The searing planetary eclipses, undulating asteroid fields, dazzling energy blasts and titanic, roiling explosions that are the keystones of the Nexus experience will be brought to life like never before.

Modular Ship Design

The upgraded game engine will permit ships to be created from combining multiple modules, allowing a much wider range of ship customisation.

In battle, this feature means that individual parts of a ship can be destroyed, resulting not only in a tactically-richer game experience, but also one which is highly pleasing graphically.

Capital Ships and Space Stations

Using the Modular system, we can now build ships of a larger scale than ever before. Nexus 2 will introduce monstrous capital ships that will dwarf anything seen in the previous game, as well as immense space stations, bristling with weapons and defensive systems.

Truly, these will be opponents that will test the player to the very limits of his ability.

Squadron Customisation

One of the criticisms of the original Nexus was that the player couldn’t customise the load-out of the various gunboats, bombers and fighters under his command. In Nexus 2, you will have full control over every weapon and system choice, allowing you to develop completely new tactics and battle plans.

Why Kickstarter?

It is a new era in video games development. Traditional publishers are struggling in the age of digital distribution, and are becoming increasingly risk-averse in terms of the products and the budgets they are prepared to consider.

Scared by the size and range of the modern games market, they choose to put their money only into projects they consider “safe” – which usually means copying a recent successful product, and results in a glut of very similar and uninspiring products.

In an environment like this, classic game genres are easily neglected, as publishers fall over themselves to sign the next “gritty” combat FPS, or “epic” RPG that’s heavy on cut scenes and feather-light on gameplay.

A game like Nexus 2 is just too challenging a prospect for modern publishers. The lack of any recent comparisons for market performance means that they propose a budget that’s insultingly small, or want to throw away the rich, deep tactical fabric in favour of brainless “space shooter” gameplay.

We at Most Wanted have realised that, if we want to make the game of our vision, then who best to turn to for support than the sophisticated gamers who share our passion for the genre, and desire to see it continue.

Kickstarter gives a voice to you, the neglected consumer, to make your opinion heard, and to support the production of games that you want to play.

The Creators

Most Wanted Entertainment was formed when a band of Hungary’s hottest games talent joined forces with Dutch games company HD Interactive to create one of Central Europe’s longest-lived and most prolific game developers.

We have launched games across many platforms, including PC, Xbox 360, PS3, Nintendo DS, iPhone/iPad in all sorts of genres.

Strategy and tactical games are our greatest love, however, with products like Joint Task Force and Nexus: The Jupiter Incident being some of the titles we are most proud of.

With our ranks still numbering most of the original Nexus development team, no other developer can match the experience, insight or love we have for this classic game.

Risks and challenges

PROJECT STRENGTHS

It’s our baby:

No developer in the world could make a Nexus game faster, better or more economically than us, because nobody has the relevant insight, experience or resources we do, plus the personnel to exploit them for maximum effect.

We can still call upon the original game’s Producer, Lead Designer, and many of the senior artists, programmers and designers, in our mission to deliver you the truly authentic sequel to Nexus.

Plans are already laid:

One of the most challenging and open-ended parts of any game development is the initial design phase. Here, we are in an excellent position, in that we already have a full design document prepared and ready to go.

Once funds are in place, then we’ll be hitting the ground running.

A headstart on assets:

Development will also be eased by the amount of assets we can re-use from the previous game. Lots of the art we have was made to such a high quality, it is still re-usable today. Where improvements do need to be made, we have all the original design sketches and models, so improved versions can be made quickly and reliably.

PROJECT WEAKNESSES

High Fund Goal:

Making a quality video game is an expensive undertaking, especially when you’re trying to deliver as much to the player as we are.

Our fund goal is ambitious, but represents the least amount of money we’d need to make this project viable.

Can we deliver on time?

With the best will in the world, video game development can be a fraught business, with any number of unforeseen bugs and problems ready to raise their heads and derail plans. Delays arising from these sorts of issues can afflict any development team.

However, we are a highly-experienced and professional team, who have negotiated paths like this very often, and only set our release dates after meticulous planning.

The situation is also eased by the fact that we’ll be working on a product we know very well, which allows us to make very accurate estimations about project length, and gives us high confidence in addressing any issues that may arise.

YES! For all Kickstarter backers the game will be DRM free. We're not yet sure if the post KS release version (such as on Steam) will be DRM free, but for all Kickstarter pledgers it will be 100% DRM free.

$500 reward

ART COLLECTOR: Ultimate Edition Box Set + You will receive a Limited Edition Artwork (approximate size 24x36 inches), signed and numbered by the artist (+$20 international shipping).

Estimated delivery:Dec 2013

You selected

$1,000 reward

7 backers
Limited (18 left of 25)

IN-GAME APPEARANCE: Ultimate Edition Box Set + Adopt an in-game character! An NPC will be named after you, and appear in your likeness in-game. You will also receive a signed portrait of your character by the artist.

Estimated delivery:Dec 2013

You selected

$5,000 reward

0 backers
Limited (5 left of 5)

STARSHIP DESIGNER: Ultimate Edition Box Set + Design some tech! Collaborate with one of our top artists on a design for an in-game spaceship or space station (and help name it too!).

Estimated delivery:Dec 2013

You selected

$8,000 reward

0 backers
Limited (5 left of 5)

STUDIO VIP: Ultimate Edition Box Set + Come to our launch party and/or visit the studio and sit down with the lead designers of Nexus 2 to discuss your ideas about the game (travel expenses not included). You will also receive 10 copies of the game, along with framed original hand-drawn concept art.

Estimated delivery:Dec 2013

You selected

$10,000 reward

2 backers
Limited (3 left of 5)

OUR NEW HERO: Ultimate Edition Box Set + We will make you your own version of the game, in which YOU are the main character, including facial appearance, name and voice over. Come to the studio (travel expenses not included) and have your face modelled as the main character. There will be only one unique copy for you to treasure forever.

Estimated delivery:Dec 2013

Funding period

Sep 28, 2012 - Oct 28, 2012
(30 days)

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